After the Blackout
by samuraiheart
Summary: A slash-filled epilogue to the first season episode TOW the Blackout. Chandler comes home and Joey has a question for him. J/C


After the Blackout  
by samuraiheart  
Rating: PG I guess. Really more like G.  
Pairing: Joey/Chandler  
Author's Notes:  
This is slash so please stop reading and turn back now if m/m relationships offend you.  
  
I recently saw "The One With The Blackout' again and it just somehow felt unfinished to me. evil grin Here is a slash-filled epilogue. Sadly, we'll have to call it an AU fic since I don't see much evidence that this could have actually happened.  
  
Brief setup (in case you haven't seen the episode in a while): The lights went out in New York City. Chandler was trapped for a while in an ATM vestibule with a Victoria's Secret model named Jill Goodacre. All of the other friends spent the evening in Rachel and Monica's apartment. Ross tries to ask Rachel out, but a cat attacks him and then everyone goes to look for the owner. Eventually the lights come back on and let's say Joey is back in his apartment. And now, on with the fic...  
  
This is really a dialogue-centric fic so I apologize for the lack of description. I wrote it kind of fast so I hope it makes sense, lol.  
  
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Chandler walked into his apartment shutting the door behind him. He loosened his tie and set his keys on the kitchen counter. Joey turned from the television and smiled at his roommate. He turned off the tv program he had been watching and walked over to the stool by the kitchen counter and sat down.  
  
"Hey man! There you are. I was starting to wonder if you and Jill Goodacre were going to do some underwear modeling of your own." Joey smiled and raised his eyebrows suggestively at that.   
  
"Nah. I think I pretty much blew that opportunity when I couldn't string two words together into a sentence." Chandler frowned and shrugged slightly, but then he had to laugh and shake his head.  
  
"Aw, that's too bad." Joey pressed his lips together trying to think of something encouraging to say. He hated to see Chandler worried over something like this.  
  
"I have such bad luck with women!" Chandler leaned his forehead against the refrigerator door. This certainly wasn't the first time he had made a fool of himself in front of someone of the opposite sex.  
  
"Dude, it was Jill Goodacre! Even I would have a tough time with her!"   
  
"Really?" Chandler turned to face his friend half hoping that it was true and half knowing that Joey was just trying to help. Joey broke into a wide grin.  
  
"Nah, I was just trying to make you feel better."  
  
"Thanks." Chandler said trying to sound sarcastic, but failing. It really was a nice gesture. Joey always had a way of saying the things that made him put things into perspective.  
After a few minutes of silence, Joey couldn't ignore the question that had been bothering him since earlier in the evening. "Hey, Chandler. Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yeah, what is it?"   
  
"Ross and I, earlier, we were talking about The Zone. You know, that zone that you get in where two people are just good friends and there's no romantic possibilities?" Joey shifted back and forth on his feet nervously, but looked up at Chandler at the end of his sentence.  
  
"Yeah, sure. The zone. Gotcha." Chandler nodded his head knowingly. He wasn't really sure where Joey was headed with this though.  
  
"Well, I was just wondering. I mean, I told Ross that he's waited too long with Rachel and he needed to ask her out soon or she'd never see him as anything more than a friend, but, do you think that's really true? Do you think a person could move out of the zone?"  
  
"And into a relationship?"   
  
"Yeah." Joey looked down at the kitchen counter awaiting a response.  
  
Chandler thought for a moment before answering. He couldn't figure out why this seemed so important to Joey. "Sure. I guess so. I mean it would depend."  
  
"What if two people had been friends for a while? What if they were roommates? Would it be too late to move out of the zone?" Joey was talking faster than he usually did. He wanted to get this over with, but he was worried about what would happen afterwards.  
  
"Joey..." Chandler focused on Joey with a serious expression on his face. If Joey was saying what Chandler thought he was saying then this could be a decisive moment in their friendship. His heart started beating faster as Joey looked up at him once again and smiled wanly.   
  
"Come on, Chandler, I've seen the way you look at me. I don't want to wait any longer."  
  
"Joey? Are you saying..." Chandler's breath caught in his throat as Joey stood up and walked over to him.  
  
Joey leaned close to his friend and brought one hand up to the side of Chandler's face just barely touching it. "Can I kiss you?" His voice wavered slightly with anticipation.  
  
Chandler answered without hesitation. "That would be perfection."   
  
Then they stepped closer together until their faces were just inches apart. Chandler closed his eyes and Joey leaned forward to press his mouth to Chandler's lips. It started slowly at first, building towards a passion neither of them had experienced often. Chandler brought his hands up behind Joey's back and held him closer. Joey opened his mouth into the kiss and ran his tongue along Chandler's bottom lip. Chandler made a soft sound low in his throat and opened his mouth to the invitation.  
  
This was turning out to be a very interesting evening after all.  
  
The End  
  
~Thanks for reading! ^_^ Comments very much appreciated. 


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